MS in Accounting

Accounting professionals are valuable members of the leadership team of business organizations. The Master of Science (MSA) will provide you with the technical expertise to become a Certified Public Accountant and experiences to obtain a position with a professional services firm or well-recognized corporation.

The MSA degree is typically a one calendar year (summer, fall and spring terms) graduate program for students who have earned an undergraduate business degree with a major, or equivalent, in accounting from an accredited school in the United States. Students without an accounting degree but have completed significant core accounting courses in US GAAP (typically 6-7) will also be considered. Depending on the course coverage, students will be required to complete the undergraduate coursework in accounting areas that you have not had previous coverage of material prior to enrolling in graduate accounting courses. For international students with an undergraduate major in Accounting the program typically takes two years. In this program, students:

Obtain an understanding of fraudulent schemes and fraud examinations or advanced auditing topics

Complete the 150-hour requirement to sit for the CPA exam in most states

Examine taxation for corporations

There are opportunities for graduate assistant positions to work with the accounting faculty. As part of their duties the graduate assistants conduct the interviews and write the articles for Accounting Magazine that is sent to our alums each summer. We also distribute the magazine to high school students and major corporations. While Marquette does not offer a doctorate degree in accounting, graduate students interested in completing a Ph.D. program elsewhere may have an opportunity to work on research projects with the faculty.

Graduates of the MSA program are prepared for careers in public accounting, audit or tax, internal auditing, corporate accounting such as financial reporting or management accounting, investment banking, governmental and not-for profit organizations and Ph.D. programs.